This class is designed for 6 students who have taken the Mac Basics and completed one additional project such as Stars/Emotions. Because of the nature of the class, sharing computers is not recommended.
Goals
This class is designed to Introduce the kids to computer peripherals, Pagemaker and page layout, and the concept of using multiple programs for one task. Each child will learn to work relatively independently, and will take home the results of their work.
Day 1.
Explain to the students that they are going to create their own computer business. Ask, "what is a business?. How do you inform people about your business." Have the kids brainstorm around these questions. Write their responses on the board.
Explain to the students that their business must make a product that "goes with" computers. Have students look at a stack of computer magazines and pick out the items that "go with computers." Write all of their choices on the board.
For example:
Discuss the products and how they "go with" the computer. Introduce the word "peripheral." Explain that products that "go with" computers are peripherals. Have the kids say it as a group.(It's a hard word for kids to say.)
Have students choose their favorite peripheral and use it as their product. Next, have them invent a name for their company.
Introduce the word logo. Explain the concept of a logo: a picture/symbol that represents your company.
Draw some logos on the board and have the students guess what company they are for.
For Example:
Tell the Students to think about a design for their own logo.
Go to the computers and have the kids draw their logo using KidPix.
Once they have designed their logo, Introduce the students to the concept of a business card. Show them examples of cards (as many types as possible) and Explain what they are for. Tell the students that they are going to design their own business cards
Go to the computers and have the kids write the text for their cards Microsoft Word.
The text includes:
Save the text and the logo inside of their folders as "name.logo" and "name.text"
Day 2.
Review - business, peripheral, logo, and business card.
Show different possible lay-outs for the cards and tell the students that the choice is theirs. Show them many examples.
Explain to the students that they are going to use a special program called Pagemaker in which they can paste the words and pictures any way they want (as opposed to the card they made in the basics class). Import text and logo into Pagemaker and assist students in choosing fonts/size and re-sizing the picture.
Make the cards larger than standard size to ease the process. Print the cards out and let the kids take them home.
Day 3.
Review - business, peripheral, logo, and business card.
Bring out the computer magazines again and have the students find full-page ads. Introduce the word "advertising" and Explain the concept. Explain to the students that they are going to make full page ads for their product using Pagemaker.
Go to the computers and have the kids draw a picture for their ad. It should include a drawing of the product, but can include other things as well i.e. people, animals, computers. Save as "name.ad"
Open the magazines again and show students an ad that has a catchy phrase or uses a jingle. Read it to them and ask what they think. Ask them if they know of any jingles
For Example:
Go to the computers and have the kids write the text for their ads in Word.
This includes:
Day 4.
Review - business, peripheral, logo, business card, and advertising
Show different possible lay-outs for the advertisements and Tell the students that the choice is theirs. Show them many examples.
Explain to the students that they are going to use Pagemaker to make their magazine advertisements. Go to the computers and import their text and logos into Pagemaker. Assist students in creating their ad, choosing fonts/size and re-sizing the picture.
Print the ads out and let the kids take them home. End the class with a review of business, peripherals, logo, business card, and advertising. Congratulate the class and have them thank each other for a job well done.
Extra Activity: If the students are done early and work well together, you can create quicktime movies/infomercials about the different companies and products.